The bride played the ukulele

[kambriel]

Violet, a most delightfully charming bride I had the joy of working with earlier this year, just shared some photos from her dream steampunk wedding. It came together as a team effort, with my good friend Dianna of Starkers! providing an exquisite over the bust corset to be paired with my gored skirt with ruffled hem, and a custom below the bust jacket with bustled "tailcoat" detailing, long lace tipped sleeves and ruffled organza embellishments.

The one of a kind outfit originally started out being inspired by my Cabaret Bustle Ensemble, but as you can see through a variety of twists and turns with Violet's visionary input, it took on a whole new life of its own.








You'd want to meet up with these people in a dark alley...


A jubilant turn on the dancefloor with Señor Masque:


This makes me want to pick up my violin and play a gypsy tune:


Sheer joy amoungst friends:


Surely Violet's attained some kind of superhero status for playing the ukulele at her own wedding:


Guest treats in the form of mustachioed monocles!


Radiance:







~ Kambriel

Comments

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

Violet is a friend of mine (sadly, too far away for me to get to the wedding), and isn't she just gorgeous!!

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

isn't she just gorgeous!!

Absolutely! I wish you could have been able to attend. All the guests look like they were having as equally grand of a time as the bride and groom were :)

I'm guessing you've seen this link for the rest of the photos?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slyviolet/sets/

[joanarkham.livejournal.com]

Wow! A great concept and beautiful results.

(Plus I love seeing happy people first thing in the morning!)

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

The joy of this wedding is simply palpable from the photos!

[lapetitemort73.livejournal.com]

I LOVE it! The colors, the way everything fell together. She does look stunning.
Plus, they just look as though they are having the fabulous fun time!! (as all weddings should be!)

[lapetitemort73.livejournal.com]

I just noticed the moustache, monacle lollipops!! Genius!!

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Aren't those terrific? I had to add a picture of them in as well :)

[slyviolet.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much, I invented them for the wedding as the favors. I'm so very proud of my little Distinguished Lollies! ^_Q

[pandorasfox.livejournal.com]

wow, they look fabulous! and I wish their was a closeup of her bouquet it looks amazing too.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Here's a close-up photo of the first flower for the bouquet, along with a detailed description: http://www.flickr.com/photos/slyviolet/3873183073/in/set-72157622068461147/

I remember there being another photo of the entire bouquet here too if you're interested in seeing more :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slyviolet/sets/

Oh ~ heads up! I'll be doing a direct sale soon, some of which will include shoes. Since we're the same size, I thought you might be interested. Never worn skull covered Converse, and older ones of the pointy variety!

[pandorasfox.livejournal.com]

lmao you're evil! and I'm pretty sure D might kill me in my sleep if I bring home any more shoes.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Well, you're ever in fear for your own safety and find you simply must whittle them down, I'd make the magnanimous sacrifice of giving a home to some pointy, purple... *whistles innocently*

I can't believe you got me to try on a pair of Crocs though! Who's the evil one here, really? ;)

[slyviolet.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you noticed, but in some of the pictures where you can see my feet, some people may recognize my lovely little ballet flats as being Crocs!

[icprncs.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is lovely. What a great adaptation of the concepts.

And I am seriously coveting that fabric.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

It's a crisp purple/black striped cotton twill. Dianna tends to offer it as a stock fabric for corsets, so we just shared yardage to make sure all of the pieces would be a perfect match :)

[diannadinoble.livejournal.com]

How lovely!!! I was so curious how the corset would fit in with your ensemble, but WOW, the jacket is so amazing and unique!

I love working on projects like this with you :)

The couple look so happy - I mean, how can you not be if you can play a ukulele...

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

When I found the photos of her with the ukulele, I was just ever-so-happily beside myself. There was obviously an *amazing* energy surrounding the entire wedding, and I hope it will follow them throughout the rest of their many years together :)

All the pieces came together so perfectly, you'd never know we weren't in the same room collaborating on them, let alone two different countries. We shall definitely have to keep doing more in the future!

[slyviolet.livejournal.com]

And what was it the bride was playing on her uke? Why, a parody of the Jonathan Coulton song from the end credits of Portal 'Still Alive,' of course --

"And while we're dancing, I'll be Still In Love... And in the morning, I'll be Still In Love..."

There was also a Princess Bride reference in the song, which hearkened back to our 5-minute long ceremony which consisted of our officiant giving the "Mawwiage" speech, followed by my maid of honor (his wife) drawing her blunderbuss from her corset and hurrying him along with "Man and wife. Say man and wife." Then we kissed, grabbed hands, and ran out the doors and fell into one another's arms laughing and kissing.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

which consisted of our officiant giving the "Mawwiage" speech

Oh dear, that is *brilliant*.

You know what I just realized though? We were actually in SF on April 3rd, this year!! Can we please wind the clock back? :)

[spangle-kitten.livejournal.com]

I adore that the groom matched his hair to the dress!

She looks lovely; what a great collaboration :)

And good ukulele action! (Whenever I think of ukuleles (except he does it on a banjo in this version, it's usually a ukulele), I always get the Monty Python sketch where he does Urban Spaceman with the woman doing bonkers over the top dancing in my head)

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

You do realize I'm making a mental note to be sure you do that dance next time we're in a Metro station waiting for a train together, oui? :)

[acid-poptart.livejournal.com]

Another lovely and very fun wedding from the looks of it!

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Must be something in the stripes! How can it not be whimsical?

Here are the rest of the wedding photos ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/slyviolet/sets/72157624246945560/ I mainly focused on the bride and groom here, but it's worth it to take a look at how into it all the other guests were as well!

[miss-adventure.livejournal.com]

Not only has Violet attained some kind of superhero status for playing the ukulele at her own wedding, so have you for making her outfit.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Superhero fairy queen? Now we're on to something...

I'm looking forward to seeing you in the coming month! We'll be melting in the heat most likely, but nothing a good peanut butter shake can't remedy ;)

[miss-adventure.livejournal.com]

The Queen of Air and Darkness would make a good superhero name. [grin]

We're looking forward to it too! What are the approximate dates you'll be up here? It's been stiflingly hot and humid, but we're hoping that perhaps this weather pattern will break a bit.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

The Queen of Air and Darkness would make a good superhero name. [grin]

Now, just to find out if there's room on the next set of business cards ;)

It looks like we'd be knocking around Philly starting anytime around the 23rd 'til the 27th (when some West coast friends are flying in for Projektfest & Dracula's Ball), so let me know if something in that general timeframe looks good and it should be an easy drive into the city.

[meiow.livejournal.com]

It's all so lovely! I think I might need one of those jackets, myself. :D

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

A similar style would actually work pretty well in accommodating the twins ;)

Oh, and I *love* those silk brocades ~ they are so beautiful, thank you!!!

[slyviolet.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this sweet and lovely write-up Kambriel, and thank you also to everyone else for all of the compliments!

There is a great write-up of the wedding with a lot more details and such over at Rock'n'Roll Bride (http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2010/06/incredible-victorian-steampunk-corset-heavy-generally-awesome-diy-wedding-day-with-masks/comment-page-1/#comment-28423), if you are curious, and I'm more than happy to answer questions, provide resource/vendor information, or just bask in the memory of the awesomeness of it all.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Thank *you* for giving Dianna and I the honour of working alongside you with such a grandly spirited occasion!

The Rock'n'Roll Bride write-up was excellent ~ I very much so enjoyed reading it.

[solstice-lilac.livejournal.com]

How splendid! This all makes me SMILE! Beautiful bride, beautiful ensemble, lovely accessories, much joy and a ukelele! Well done to all :) I love how the shapes of the jacket and the corset work together, & love that purple striped fabric too.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

This all makes me SMILE!

Which makes me smile in turn :) I can't wait to pick you & R up next month ~ we're so excited to get you out East! I'm trying to remember, will this be your first time out here, or have you been to the East coast before?

[solstice-lilac.livejournal.com]

Unbelievably, this will be my FIRST trip to the East. The East proper, anyway -- the farthest east I have traveled was to Atlanta, which, though it's east of here, is still the South! R has been to NYC, though, so he's one up on me.

I'm so grateful to you for picking us up when we arrive, also. It'll be instantly better to see you right away than to have to navigate an unknown airport and environs by ourselves!

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

How exciting! And yes, Atlanta is about as much like the Northeast as Santa Barbara is like the Pacific Northwest :)

I know such a long travel day can take a lot out of you (afterall, our bodies weren't exactly designed for crossing a continent in a day), so anything to make it easier when you arrive, and less minutiae to plan beforehand is precisely what I want to do. It's just vastly easier knowing there will be a familiar, friendly face waiting there, not to mention a few extra hands to help with the bags!

Ironically, we won't know the airport well either, but between phones, GPS, it will all come together! We'll just make sure to get there early and make a note of where we parked ;)

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous! The outfit is smashing, and the bride and groom are just glowing.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I think when you see people having that kind of joyful abandon and 100% comfort in doing things their own way, it can't help but bode well for their shared future. And when I'm able to play any small part in that? What an honour is is!

[blooddrop.livejournal.com]

What a glowing, cute bride!!! :}

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking such good thoughts for you ~ it's going to be an exciting week in Rosebush!

[blooddrop.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Kambriel!!!
xoxox